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💬 The Wrap

Earlier this month UTC #147 was held at Adobe HQ in downtown San Jose, paving the way for Unicode 9 to be released in June.

Arguably the biggest emoji news was Google's "Expanding Emoji Professions" proposal, though progress continues on a number of other fronts.

Expect to see vendors release support for new emojis quicker this year than in the past, as the schedule has become more consistent, and demand and attention has only continued to increase.

Google and Microsoft went as far as releasing new emojis in developer previews, while Unicode 9 was still in beta, with public rollouts planned for the coming months. Apple's OS release cycle begins in earnest at WWDC in June when the first developer builds of iOS 10 are expected.

The International Trademark Association Conference looked at this, but the issue has never been litigated. Lots of different aspects between character names, reference images, and vendor artwork, which are all separate matters.

18 months after their introduction, we still can't figure out the correct cultural use of modified emojis. What is the difference in meaning between a thumbs up with white skin tone compared to a dark skin tone?

The use of emoji in international diplomacy is in some ways a natural fit. It has flags, and gestures that cross geographical borders. Highlighted is Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop who is a heavy emoji user, and shares her birthday with World Emoji Day.